The lessons were stern and clear for the San Jose Unified School
District, one of the largest in Northern California. With 32,000
students, San Jose entered the fall term with a $5 million budget
deficit and without the services of 154 teachers, who had been laid off
during the summer. Ten elementary schools had been shut down to save
money, creating shorter classes and crowded classrooms. With the
depletion of the state surplus that since 1978 had buffered the effects
of Proposition 13,...